Sephardim

Sephardim are a Jewish ethnic division that originated in Spain and Portugal, where the coalesced around 1000. In 1492, the Alhambra Decree expelled them from Spain, and the Spanish Inquisition forced all of the Jews remaining in Spain to convert to Christianity or to practice their old religion in secret. The same happened in Portugal, where the Jews were also expelled. The Sephardim migrated to North Africa, the Levant, Arabia, and Eastern Europe, while some also emigrated to Spain's American colonies. Today, there are 2,200,000 Sephardim, 16% of the Jewish population.

History
The Sephardim traveled to the land that they believed to be Sepharad (also known as Sfard), which in reality was the city of Sardes in Turkey. However, they travelled west instead of north from Israel, trekking across North Africa before reaching present-day Spain and Portugal. The Sephardim settled mainly in southern Spain. Under the rule of the Moors, the Jews had a golden age of culture in Iberia, where they were allowed the same rights of Christians, although they were rarely allowed to hold positions above Muslims. However, after the Spanish Christians conquered Granada in 1492 and ended their reconquest of Spain, they ordered the Jews to leave Spain in the Alhambra Decree. Many Jews fled to Muslim North Africa, and some who remained were tortured and executed in the auto de fe, converted to Christianity, or pretended to convert while still practicing Judaism in secret.

The Sephardim spread out far and wide across the known world, reaching Italy, Greece, The Balkans, France, Western Europe, England, Turkey, North Africa, and the Middle East, with communities maintaining their culture. Benjamin Disraeli became the first Jewish Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1874, and Sephardim also became merchants in their new countries. Under Oliver Cromwell, Jews were allowed back to England in 1657, and under Napoleon I of France, Jews were invited to France after years of expulsion in 1805.

The Sephardim also settled as far as Yemen and Iraq in the Middle East, and South America and North America to the west in the New World. The Jews there established their own communities, with large communities in Argentina, Chile, and Cuba. These were augmented by the Jewish emigrants from Europe during World War II, and many of the Cuban Jews left for the United States after the 1959 Cuban Revolution. The Sephardim of the Middle East were forced to flee during the Jewish exodus from Arab lands after 1948 and into the 1950s, leaving the Muslim countries for the newly-established Jewish homeland of Israel to flee persecution with only a few belongings. The Sephardim also established a community in the United States, mainly in New York City and on the east coast, as it was closer to Europe than the West Coast.

Today, there are 2,200,000 Sephardim, constituting 16% of the Jewish population.